Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:07:34 -0500 To: kahluv@moose.erie.net From: jfa@telesys.tnet.com (Justice-For-All Moderator by way of "Kathy A. Hertzog" ) Subject: Urgent Alert on OTRB's Justice For All jfa@mailbot.com ADA THREATENED WITH WEAKENING AMENDMENT! ADA Amendment Exempts Greyhound from ADA! Congressman Bud Shuster, Chair of the House Transportation Committee, and other members of Congress are planning to amend the ADA and completely exempt Greyhound and other over-the-road bus companies from the ADA. This amendment would pre-empt any regulations from the Department of Transportation (DOT). This amendment would be tacked on during the mark up of the "Building Efficient Surface Transportation and Equity Act (BESTEA: HR 2400)" Please call Chair Bud Shuster at 202/225-2431 and members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and tell them such an amendment would be horrible! Address: House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; 2165 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC 20515-6256; http://www.house.gov/transportation/ WHAT TO SAY: 1) Greyhound has done little over 7 years to serve people with disabilities. There is no reason to believe they will do anything unless they are required to by the ADA. 2) DOT has studied this issue for a VERY long time. They were supposed to issue regulations in 1994, but they were not issued until 1998. The logic behind the proposed rules is very strong. 3) This issue was studied by the federal Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), which included members of the transit industry. The OTA found accessible buses were vital. 4) People who have tried to ride under the current system have had abominable service. ADAPT's "Doggone Shame Report" outlines the types of experiences: people have been dropped, undressed, physically and otherwise harmed trying to ride; they have been told they don't belong on Greyhound, had their equipment broken, been required to find someone to travel with them, and more. 5) SHARE ANY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD WITH GREYHOUND. -- Background on OTRB's: Ten days ago the Department of Transportation issued Proposed Regulations applying the Americans with Disabilities Act to Over-the-Road Buses (OTRBs.). These buses are those with the passenger deck above a baggage compartment, e.g., Greyhound and many charter/tour buses. These regulations propose that all transportation providers of OTRB service purchase only lift-equipped vehicles 2-3 years after the effective date of the regulation (we anticipate this to be late 1998.) By 2006, half of fleets for fixed route operators should be accessible; by 2012, all fleets should be accessible. Charter and tour operators will be able to utilize a pooling method, as long as they can provide equivalent service. Also at this time, the Surface Transportation legislation (ISTEA or BESTEA) is being voted on in the House. This is an opportunity for Greyhound and other OTRB operators to change DOT's regulations or amend the ADA itself. We anticipate that this will happen during the floor debate next week. We need you to call your member immediately, particularly if they are on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to ask them to oppose any amendment of the ADA in this transportation bill. Talking points and Committee list are attached. We will update you as we get specifics on any proposed amendment. The proposed regulations can be found at DOT's website at www.dot.gov/briefing.htm. OTRB Talking Points Issue: Nearly eight years after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, DOT finally issued proposed regulations that would end discrimination in over-the-road bus travel by requiring that, when the industry purchases new OTRBs, they be equipped with lifts similar to those now required of other transportation providers. Some in the bus industry oppose full and equal access for individuals with disabilities and now propose to amend the ADA to avoid having to purchase lift-equipped buses. Please call your Representative and Senators and ask them to: 1) Oppose any amendments to BESTEA that change the transportation provisions of the ADA, 2) Allow the deliberative rulemaking process to work, Background: A compromise between Congress, the disability community, and the private OTRB industry led to final passage of the OTRB provisions of the ADA, and bought the industry the extra years to begin complying that were not afforded other covered entities. In exchange, the industry agreed to abide by the results of the OTA study. The OTA study, issued in 1993, concluded that the OTRB industry could feasibly provide access for riders with disabilities to buses by wheelchair lifts. The study also found, in recognition of problems associated with lifting people, "that carrying as a method of boarding assistance does not meet the ADA requirement for full accessibility." In addition, "to meet the requirements of the ADA, accessible boarding assistance must allow persons to remain in their wheeled mobility aids." The administrative process must be allowed to proceed: There is a 60 day comment period for this proposed regulation, after which time DOT will issue its final regulations. There is then a two-three year period before the industry must begin to comply, depending on the size of the operator. Legislative action at this time would be premature, and rushing it through would not allow for meaningful consideration and debate. Access to the entire OTRB industry is at stake: Although Greyhound is the only provider of national fixed route service, the compromise that was made in 1990 under the ADA to delay compliance until 1996 affected all providers of OTRB service. Any legislative fix would perpetuate existing discrimination throughout the industry and limit access to charters, tours, and other systems that could easily provide accessibility. Access means new business for the OTRB industry: The OTA study estimated that the availability of fully accessible OTRBs could create nearly 400,000 additional intercity trips annually, as well as 3.6 million charter and tour trips, by people using mobility aids such as wheelchairs, walkers, and motorized scooters. These new trips represent people who currently are able to ride OTRBs only if they are willing to be bodily lifted up the bus steps, risking injury to themselves, OTRB personnel, and mobility equipment. Accessible buses will also make OTRBs more accommodating to families and companions traveling with persons with disabilities. Accessible OTRBs are especially needed in rural areas: Contrary to ADA opponents' claims that there will be little demand for accessible bus service in rural areas, evidence indicates that opening OTRB service to passengers with disabilities in all markets, and especially those in poor and rural areas, where there are few transportation alternatives, will boost ridership. In fact, statistics from DOT's Federal Transit Administration indicate that 25% of the transit ridership in rural areas are people with disabilities. Proposed Regulations Are Not Costly or Burdensome: The Industry is Not Required to Buy New Buses or to Retrofit Existing buses The proposed rule merely requires that when new OTRBs are purchased or leased, they must be accessible buses. Thus, even with this gradual phase-in, it will be many years before disabled riders have 100% access. Although bus lift technology has been available since long before passage of the ADA, and some smaller OTRB operators have already invested in fully accessible fleets, Greyhound Lines, Inc., has used its resources to oppose accessibility requirements rather than to purchase lift-equipped buses. Additionally, when OTRB operators purchase new vehicles, the OTA study found that "the average cost to implement vehicle-based level-change devices for each new bus ranges from $10,000 to $40,000, depending on the choice of . . . technology, or approximately 1 percent of total operating costs for that vehicle," amortized over the life of the vehicle. It is the cost of continuing to exclude disabled riders from intercity bus travel, charters, and tours that America cannot afford. Greyhound proposes a Reservations Required System for people with Disabilities: Greyhound now proposes to purchase a limited number of accessible buses and to pool these buses and require 48 hour advance notice to reserve a lift equipped bus, which Greyhound would then route to the reserved departure point. People with disabilities would be singled out as the only class" of passengers required to make advance reservations, a solution intolerable to any other protected class and in direct conflict with the ADA. We have also learned through experience that operational fixes do not provide equal access. Although policies may be letter perfect, practice is frequently not. Whether reserving an accessible hotel room, a seat at a concert, an airline or train seat, people with disabilities repeatedly provide information on their needs only to find that the requested service is not available at the point of use. Furthermore, such a pool-and-route system of service, even if it were not discriminatory, would certainly be extremely costly in the long run and would waste valuable transportation resources. Congress is about to recess. Call today. And visit them when they are home! Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Majority Members Bud Shuster, Pa., Chairman Don Young, Alaska Thomas E. Petri, Wis. Sherwood L. Boehlert, N.Y Herbert H. Bateman, Va. Howard Coble, N.C. John J. Duncan, Jr., Tenn. Thomas W Ewing, Ill. Wayne T. Gilchrest, Md. Jay Kim, Calif Steve Hom, Calif Bob Franks, N.J. John L. Mica, Fla. Jack Quinn, N.Y Tillie Fowler, Fla. Vernon J. Ehlers, Mich. Spencer Bachus, Ala. Steve LaTourette, Ohio Sue Kelly, N.Y Ray LaHood, Ill. Richard Baker, La. Frank Riggs, Calif Charles F. Bass, N.H. Bob Ney, Ohio Jack Metcalf, Wash. Jo Ann Emerson, Mo. Edward A. Pease, Ind. Roy Blunt, Mo. Joseph R. Pitts, Pa. Asa Hutchinson, Ark. Merrill Cook, Utah John Cooksey, La. John R. Thune, S.D. Charles W (Chip) Pickering, Jr., Miss. Kay Granger, Tex. Jon D. Fox, Pa. Tom Davis, Va. Frank A. LoBiondo, N.J. J.C. Watts, Jr., Okla. *Jerry Moran, Kan. *Vito J. Fossella, N.Y MINORITY MEMBERS James L. Oberstar, Minn., Ranking Minority Member Nick Rahall, W.Va. Robert A. Borski, Pa. William 0. Lipinski, Ill. Bob Wise, W.Va. James A. Traficant, Jr., Ohio Peter A. DeFazio, Ore. Bob Clement, Tenn. Jerry R Costello, Ill. Glenn Poshard, Ill. Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC. Jerrold Nadler, N.Y. Pat Danner, Mo. Robert Menendez, N.J. James E. Clybum, S.C. Corrine Brown, Fla. James A. Barcia, Mich. Bob Filner, Calif Eddie Bernice Johnson, Tex. Frank Mascara, Pa. Gene Taylor, Miss. Juanita Millender-McDonaict Calif Elijah E. Cummings, Md. Earl Blumenauer, Ore. Max Sandlin, Tex. Ellen 0. Tauscher, Calif William J. Pascrell, Jr., N.J. Jay Johnson, Wis. Leonard L. Boswell, Iowa James P. McGovern, Mass. Tim Holden, Pa. Nick Lampson, Tex. (Two Vacancies) -- Fred Fay jfa@mailbot.com Justice For All Moderator http://www.mailbot.com/justice